Isaiah 6 Discussion

[TrevorL]

Isaiah 6 Discussion

I have been interested in Isaiah 6 for some time, and I have gradually formed an opinion on many of the features of this chapter. I attended a home study class in my early 20’s and a number of different speakers gave an exposition of a chapter each evening. There was a period for discussion at the end of the class and I gave my very first comment ever on one of the features. My understanding and interest in this chapter have grown over the years since then.

There is a record of the calling of each of the Major Prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel but there is a distinct difference in that the record of the calling of Jeremiah and Ezekiel is given at the beginning of their book, while the calling of Isaiah is given in chapter 6 and there is quite a lot of prophecy given in Isaiah chapters 1-5.

My general impression until recently has been that Isaiah 1 is an overall introduction to the Book, then Isaiah 2-5 was given in the reign of Uzziah and the regency of Jotham, then Isaiah 6 records the death of Uzziah and the special commissioning of Isaiah. This assumes that Isaiah was a general prophet during Isaiah 2-5. I have recently encountered another opinion, that Isaiah 6 is the beginning of Isaiah’s ministry, making Isaiah 2-5 prophecies given after Isaiah 6.

Has anyone considered this feature?

Kind regards
Trevor

 

[David]

Isaiah 6 Discussion

Has anyone considered this feature?

That is a strong question, and Isaiah 6 is not a chapter to skim past. That chapter is holy ground. It is not merely about Isaiah getting an assignment. It is about a man seeing the Lord, seeing himself rightly, being cleansed by God, and then being sent into a hard field with a hard message.

I would be careful about pressing the chronology further than Scripture does. Isaiah 6:1 says, “In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne” ~Isaiah 6:1. That tells us when the vision happened. It does not plainly say Isaiah had never spoken as a prophet before that moment.

Isaiah 1:1 also matters. It says, “The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah” ~Isaiah 1:1. So the book itself places Isaiah’s prophetic ministry in the days of Uzziah and beyond. That means chapters 1-5 may include material from before Isaiah 6, or the book may be arranged by divine purpose rather than strict timeline order. Scripture does not require us to force either conclusion.

But here is where the weight of Isaiah 6 lands. The throne comes before the task. The holiness of God comes before the mouth of the prophet. Isaiah does not walk into that vision talking about his gift, his experience, or his ministry. He sees the Lord “high and lifted up” ~Isaiah 6:1, and the first thing that comes out of him is not confidence but confession: “Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips” ~Isaiah 6:5.

That is the pattern Scripture gives us. Before Isaiah says, “Here am I; send me” ~Isaiah 6:8, God deals with Isaiah himself. The coal touches the mouth. The guilt is removed. The sin is purged. “Thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged” ~Isaiah 6:7. Cleansing comes before commission.

So I would say Isaiah 6 is certainly a major commissioning moment, and possibly the beginning of the prophetic ministry as recorded in the book’s structure. But I would not say Scripture demands that chapters 1-5 must all come after Isaiah 6. The text does not give us enough to be dogmatic there.

What we can say plainly is this: God’s messenger must first be brought low before God’s holiness, cleansed by God’s mercy, and then sent with God’s Word. Isaiah 6 is not mainly about building a timeline. It is about the kind of man God sends and the kind of God who sends him.